Blog: TaskArchitect

Task analysis is an excellent tool that can be used in many different trades. Today we will discuss the benefits of using task analysis for product design, supporting a training needs analysis, and for supporting a safety-focused analysis.

TASK ANALYSIS RESEARCH UPDATE

We have have found five new articles this month - two articles employ cognitive task analysis and two employ classic hierarchical task analysis. One of the HTAs was used to develop a forward chaining process to help children with disabilities learn new skills, and a second was used to develop physical personnel standards for firefighters, which is the topic of our picture above. The remaining article explores what the authors label "evolutionary task analysis." Please click on the links below to see more...

NORFOLK SOUTHERN FATALITY

On the evening of August 12th, 2015, a trainee on the Norfolk Southern Railroad lost his life during a routine train movement inside the Lone Star liquified petroleum facility in Petal, Mississippi. The NTSB report states that the probable cause of the accident was that the conductor trainee stepped between two tank cars while a shove movement was being conducted. A job hazard analysis is a form of task analysis that attempts to prevent accidents like this occuring. Let's review how this happened and how a job hazard analysis might help.

Clayton Christensen, the reknowned Harvard Business professor, who wrote The Innovator's Dilemma, quoted another Harvard legend, Theodore Levitt, as saying:

“People don't want to buy a quarter-inch drill, they want a quarter-inch hole."

In other words, the need here is the "quarter-inch hole." There are many tools that might make a hole for you. A laser beam, a nail, an awl, or my personal favorite - a firecraker - all can makes holes of various sizes. If task analysis is a tool, then what is it we need?

STEP 7: MAINTAIN THE TASK ANALYSIS

In any long-term program to support human performance, the analyst will need to update their understanding of the user's tasks. Tools change, business goals change, and even the workers change. Periodic review will keep the analysis up-to-date and useful to the organization.

A COGNITIVE TASK ANALYSIS CASE STUDY

EUROCONTROL is an intergovernment organizational that helps its 41 member states to operate a safe and efficient air traffic management system throughout Europe. Founded in 1960, EUROCONTROL works to create a commonly agreed upon air traffic management system by providing expertise in the operational and technical elements of air traffic control (www.eurocontrol.int). In 2007, the European Air Traffic Management Programme under EUROCONTROL conducted a cognitive task analysis of the First Air Traffic Support Tools Implementation (FASTI) and published their results.